Baby elephant struggles but manages to fend off 14 lions in Zambia

Young elephant in Zambia strays from its mother and seems in great peril, but holds its own and reunites with its herd; ‘We’ve named the little fella Hercules’

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It would seem that a 1-year-old elephant would have no chance after becoming surrounded by 14 hungry lions.

But not all baby elephants are of the same mettle, perhaps, and at least one young pachyderm is deserving of its valiant new nickname: Hercules.

That would be the elephant in the accompanying footage.

According to the New York Post, it had strayed from its mother but was able to fend off the lions and ultimately reunite with its herd.

The Post uploaded the video Tuesday and viewers might find parts of the footage difficult to watch, as lions can be seen using their sharp claws to climb onto the back of the elephant.

But the footage, captured by a team journalists at the Norman Carr Safaris Chinzombo Camp in Zambia, also shows the elephant turning the tide periodically by false-charging the lions to keep them at bay.

A 1-year-old elephant wandered off from his mother at the Norman Carr Safaris Chinzombo Camp in Zambia, and 14 lions attacked him—but, somehow, this story avoids an unhappy ending. The lions were unable to take the elephant down, even as they clung to his back, and he was able to get away, the New York Post reports. The whole thing was caught on video by a group on a game drive through the safari, and Norman Carr Safaris has more dramatic pictures on its website, including one in which the elephant is nearly taken down by three of the lionesses. He ultimately escaped by going into water nearby.
“In the 30-plus years I have been a safari guide in Zambia at the [Luangwa] Park, never have I seen anything like this,” says the guide who drove the group to the site. “We were all so worried the baby elephant would be killed right before us.” Instead, he ended up reuniting with his herd, and the guide notes that his new nickname is “Hercules.”